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Mark Champkins, Inventor in Residence, looks at how 3D printing helped him bring to life a young inventor’s bright idea

Have you spotted an unusual looking yellow and pink device sitting among the wall of 3D printed people in our current exhibition? Known as the Pediclean, the object is a prototype for a manual foot shower product, designed by Sophia Laycock, the winner of a competition we ran last year – which called on young people to come up with an invention to solve a problem they encountered with the great British summer.

The competition had an amazing response. From submersible beach shelters (to keep your spot on the beach even after the tide has come in), to suncream dispensing sunshades, we were bowled over by people’s creative ideas.

In my experience, the best inventions are those designed to address a specific problem, are easy to use and look visually appealing. On this basis, it was easy to pick Sophia’s idea as the winning entry.

However, my biggest challenge was working out how to translate Sophia’s drawing of the Pediclean into a real working product. How could I harness the power of 3D printing to make this a reality?

It occurred to me that it might be nice for Sophia to be able to print her very own Pediclean products on her new Makerbot printer – the prize she won for the competition. To do this I had to ensure that the Pediclean could be assembled from components that could all be printed successfully on a Makerbot. Essentially, this involved splitting up the device into six individual parts which could each be printed on the Makerbot. Each piece took approximately two hours to print. When all the parts were printed, I then screwed them together to form the finished Pediclean.

Sophia Laycock, winner of the 3D Summer Invention Competition in the 3D: Printing The Future exhibition with her Pediclean – a portable foot shower to clean the sand off your feet when you have been on the beach. Sophia won a MakerBot Replicator 3D Printer and had her invention created by Mark Champkins, Inventor in Residence, 3D printed and displayed in the exhibition. Image credits: Science Museum.

Luckily, Sophia’s design was brilliantly well thought out, containing detailed instructions – even down to the placement of the water nozzles designed to clean the foot. I was able to copy the sketch exactly to produce a final product that worked beautifully well.

You can see the Pediclean and lots of other examples of how entrepreneurs, artists and designers are using 3D printing to realise their dreams, in our free exhibition.

By Mark Champkins, Science Museum Inventor in Residence is challenging young visitors to design an invention to help solve a common summer problem. The winner will receive a Makerbot 3D printer worth over £2,000 and get their idea 3D printed and displayed in a new exhibition.

When we’re basking in a heat wave, spending a summer holiday in Britain can be the perfect way to unwind. But as we all know, a British summer can present it’s own problems – from annoying wasps, to superheated car journeys, and from rain-soaked barbecues to sand in your sandwiches.

Picture credit: iStock / Science Museum

This summer we are challenging young visitors to get their thinking caps on and come up with an invention to help solve a common problem that most of us experience at this time of year. The winner will receive a prize of a Makerbot 3D printer worth over £2,000 and get their idea 3D printed and displayed in a new exhibition opening this Autumn.

MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer

Could it be an anti-wasp drink shield, or a sunshade for your ice-cream? Or perhaps a fan that can be clipped to your sunglasses, or a sunhat with a deployable umbrella?

Picture credit: iStock / Science Museum

To get everyone started we are asking people to think of the places they normally visit when they’re holidaying in Britain and the problems people might face in situations such as the seaside, in the countryside, on a long car journey or at home in the garden. Then think about the pet hates that you normally experience and devise a clever (or funny) solution that could help overcome the problem.

To celebrate the launch of our summer family show for the summer, The Energy Show, we’ve teamed up with DK Books. You have the chance to win 4 tickets to the show and a stack of DK science books for kids – perfect to keep the family entertained throughout the holidays. See live experiments and explosions at the Science Museum and then learn more at home with this fantastic selection of books guaranteed to inspire curious minds. To enter, simply retweet our tweet on Twitter today before 16.30.

Here’s a sneak peek of the show!

A winner will be chosen at random and we’ll get in touch via Twitter. Good luck!